Hospitals with Wi-Fi

Well, our hospital room has great wireless internet service, and we've got a lot of time to kill, so here you go: a live-update post. Last night at about 2:30am Rachel started having contractions and we spent the night mostly awake groggily recording approximate timing of contractions. This morning we went to our doctor and he told us we could either go to the hospital right away or kill a few more hours at home before going in. We opted for the latter, went to Wal-Mart and the bank, and watched a few episodes of 24 on DVD. We finally gave in and came to the hospital at about 3pm, as Rachel was in a decent amount of pain and was exhausted from being awake all night. Not long after arriving, she got her epidural and is feeling fantastic now. A few minutes ago the doctor came by and broke her water (is this too much information?) to speed things up. The little general could come late tonight, but is more likely to arrive early tomorrow morning. We will post pictures and the name ASAP. Bye for now!

Update on my dad

First of all, thanks for all your prayers. It really blesses me. My dad has recently been in a lot of pain (because he fell off the roof and broke his back- to catch you all up); however, yesterday the doctor injected cement into his back to help with the pain and now he is feeling a WHOLE lot better. I know what you're thinking... cement? Right? But that's what he said. And apparently it seems to be working because he feels a lot, lot better. He's been back at work all week for 1/2 days, and might try to go back full time next week. I'm just grateful my dad is still with us. Note to all out there: It's worth it to wait for someone to hold the ladder for you, lest you slip and break your back.
Maybe I should take up writing some proverbs. :)

Hey-
Did I tell you guys that I ran into Kurt & Amy DeBoar (sp??) at my cousins wedding a few weekends ago? Amy is 7 months pregnant and looks great. Kurt is working at a bank... or something- I can't remember now. But they looked great and short- as usual.

Glimpses of the Promise Land

Michael just got the news that he starts his first job as a police officer on Monday February 27, 2006 in the city of Southfield! As you know we moved here in May of 2004 to begin this journey. It's been so long and we've given in to doubt and frustration and hopelessness all along the way, but God has been faithful though we haven't always been. He's provided a career near our families, in a financially stable city with crime :), in a department with integrity and high standards, and with the highest starting pay of any of his friends from academy. They will accept me on his insurance starting March 1, 2006 so I can stay home with the baby instead of going back to work if I want to. They also have wonderful insurance and don't require us to pay any premium at all! We are so blessed. The Lord has been working for our good all along. He's tying up all our loose ends just as they need to be tied up. May he help us be mindful and remembering of his goodness and faithfulness when we face trials in the future. Love you all. Thank you for your prayers. P.S. We have an ultrasound on March 7th and would like to find out the sex of the baby if he/she is cooperative. I'll keep you posted.

Half Marathon Results

The results are in! Simone and I had a great time in our first half-marathon, despite the 28 degree weather. Our goal was under hours, which we achieved. Who wants to come to Texas and run with us next year? or the next race?

Results are here
http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=13715

Half Marathon Results

The results are in! Simone and I had a great time in our first half-marathon, despite the 28 degree weather. Our goal was under hours, which we achieved. Who wants to come to Texas and run with us next year? or the next race?

Results are here
http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=13715

Happy Birthday!!!

A (not so) long time ago, three babies were born. The first, a boy born on February 21st was named Matt. February 22nd saw another baby be born, a girl, fairest of all, named Simone. The next day, February 23rd, yet another baby was born- a boy named Jared.

Happy birthday!!!

Cadence gets saved.

So we have this book at home all about the Holy Spirit. It is totally a garage sale item that Simone's mom picked up from some old wacky charasmatic. Published in the early 80s. Cadence and I were reading this book last night and talking about how the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, then Cadence goes,
"No, he's Jesus' Spirit." He seemed satisfied when I told him that Jesus was God. As we were reading and looking at colorful hippie images of how the Holy Spirit helps in different ways he kept saying, "I want to see Jesus... What does the Holy Spirit look like." So I told him that we can't see him and that he lives in our heart.
To that he asked, "Is he in your head?," Yes, he is." "Is he in the curtains?" "Well, I don't think so." "Is he in the tree?" (pointing to a tree in the book). "Well, no but he makes his sun to shine on the tree." To that Cadence replies, "But he made the tree!" "Yes, that's right," I said. "What about that," Cadence asks, pointing to the sun. "Does he live there?" "No, but he made it." Then I thought, well, lets just go for it! So I ask Cadence. Do you want the Holy Spirit to live inside of you? He smiles and giggles and says, "Yeah!" So I say, "Well, just ask him to come and live there." I wait. He smiles, as if thinking about what words he should use, and says, "Jesus will you come into my heart?" Then we celebrate by laughing and trying to feel him in our hearts.
We finished reading about how the Spirit helps us forgive, gives us words to pray, and talks to us all day long. Then the book was done, I tossed it out of the bed (because of course I am lying in bed with him), Cadence rolls over and says in his cute way, "Will you scratch my back?" Of course I do, all the while wondering if what just happened is the real thing. I then I think, "That's silly. Of course it is." All he knows is that Jesus is God, created everything, is very nice, once was a man, and that his Spirit can live inside of us. And he knows that I talk to God and that God lives in me. So his invitation was real and I am sure that God heard him.
This was a nice finish to a hard day. I complete our ritual by turning on some Vivaldi, a night light and tell Cadence I love him (which is a prompt for me to get him to say what I want to hear, "I love you, too.")
Sometimes, being a parent is awesome.

Elliana's first day of school

My niece Elliana started a Spanish-Emersion pre-school on Thursday. They speak no English. They have a system where the good kids get their name put on a green light, the ok kids get their name put on a yellow light, and the bad kids get their name put on a red light. When my sister Ceci walked in to pick up Elliana from her first day- she saw that Elliana's name was the only one on the red light. What happened to my perfect angel???? Well, honestly, Elliana didn't understand any Spanish so, instead of listening to the teacher, she played with the toys.

Another long hike

Hiking in Bastrop State Park "The Lost Pines Trail"in mid-January (this is one of the only areas around that one can find pine trees growing naturally). It did get warm enough to shed outter layers. Winter mornings are always cool but it hits the upper 60s by noon. Cadence is up to hiking a good 4 miles all on his own. Eli rode in the duked up Kelty backpack- our most precious and beloved baby item.

What day do YOU think it will be....

Melissa and I were discussing Baby Henderson's upcoming arrival today on the way to school and thought it would be fun to test everyone's baby-due-date-guessing abilities. So, do you have what it takes? Are you in for the mystery of it all, the fun, or just the bragging rights? Post your comment to this post indicating what day you think Baby Henderson will arrive and if you're brave enough....the time of day as well! The winner may or may not receive a shiny new quarter! AND... I have to run this by Jared and Rachel, but you may be entitled to the prize of changing a dirty diaper as well!

Six months

Sienna turned six months old yesterday. I remember the first six weeks dragging on forever (because everyone said they were the hardest and they were) but since then everything has gone by SO fast. Don't worry expecting moms there will come a time when you get more than two hours of sleep in a row, trust me. For more info on Sienna's development and pictures go to our blog www.thekelleyfam.com. Please pray for us. We'll be leaving Vancouver at the end of May and have no idea what is next! Jeff is trying to decide if he wants to get ordained or get a regular job to support his girls. We look forward to being back in the good ole U S of A. One of these pictures is Sienna eating carrots (her first solid) yesterday.

Any Day Now...

Hey gang. Here's a picture of Rachel's preposterously large belly I took last Saturday. We're pretty much down to the wire here, and the little sprout could come at any time. Due date is officially 12 days from now, but our doctor and nurses have been telling us that Rachel is moving along pretty good, and could easily go early. We've taken our official birth class, gotten the nursery all ready, recieved 114 light blue sleepers from various showers, and are pretty much sitting around thinking all day and night every day about when this little package will arrive. We can't wait to let you all know when the big day comes, and to reveal his quasi-secret name.

Meeting people....

Meeting people is what we do. We went to a new couple's house for dinner on Tuesday, small group on Wednesday, invited someone from our apartment over on Thursday, playing some "beetles" in John and Juli Boeve's coffee shop on Friday, going to a Texas basketball game with a co-worker on Saturday and maybe eating with another couple from our apartment complex on Saturday.

In a couple of weeks we are starting are own cell group at our apartment. And it appears there will be quite a varied group of religious affiliations and experiences (or lack thereof) there. Now that is great. Simone spends her days planning how we and the rest of the church can meet people and actually doing it herself. Yesterday she went knocking on apartment doors meeting people under the context of gathering information for our lease negotiation. She really is our church's not so secret weapon. I mean, who wouldn't want to hang with a woman so fair and wise and kind?

Last weekend I had a small singing role in our high school's production of "Grease." You know me, still looking for the spotlight. It was really fun, and a great way to... yes, you guessed it, meet more people!

We do tire of the constant effort required in talking with people one doesn't know well. We miss friends who know us, with whom we don't wonder what impression we are giving off, and who don't wonder at small unintended facial variations and lip curls. For that reason we value those who read this blog and those who know us well. Living so far from family, we have come to appreciate our familial ties and connections with people that run deeper than children that are the same age or a desire to take the same exercise class.

My heart's desire is to create a community like that here, and my heart's desire for ya'll is that you have that too. Thanks for listening.

High Altitude Training Achieved!

It is said that high altitude training holds an enormous mystique for endurance athletics and encourages athletes to live high and train low. Well, I am proud to say Ben and I have achieved such training (without the living part). Pushing two heavy Tennant children (32+lb and 42+lb) in high resistance-induced strollers up and down the hilly Town Lake dirt trail in Austin over 10 miles has given us such a feeling (heavy breathing, slower pace, hightened heart rate). It really is amazing how much easier running and breathing becomes when we pass off our child to Jason Stine (our dedicated exercise friend) to get a break. So, that is our version of high altitude training. This can be achieved by all and is helpful in all areas of athletics. You don't need to buy an altitude chamber or live in Colorado. All you need is: a heavy jogging stroller with wheels that rub against the plastic and often wack out-of-line to make it harder to push, hills of dirt, and most importantly, at least a burley 2 yr-old child or older (who often insists upon talking and asking quesitons the entire run and of which you must answer or he will ask forever). Good luck!

The story of David King King. Told by Cadence Tennant.

"Once upon a time there was a cute little boy named David David David King. And he took a big rock and three little rocks to kill the big giant. The giant wasn't bigger than God because God is the biggest. David King King took a stick and hit him and took a rock and threw it and hit him right there (Cadence points to his nose) and killed him. David killed the giant because he didn't want the giant to kill him. When David King King killed the giant he asked the king and said, 'I won! I won!' The end."